Rowhouse in Canton goes up in flames

A three-story Canton rowhouse under renovation by its owner was destroyed last night during a fire that was fueled by the rupture of a natural gas pipe, authorites said.

No one was injured in the blaze, which was reported at 10:17 p.m. in the 3200 block of Foster Ave. It quickly burned out all three floors, causing much of the structure to collapse onto Foster Avenue and onto a rear alley.

A second alarm was sounded at 10:27 p.m.

Feeding the fire was the natural gas that continued to burn despite huge quantities of water being poured onto the house.

Heat was so intense it melted vinyl window frames of a house nearby in the 600 block of S. Bouldin St., causing several windows to crash onto the street and shatter.

About 40 firefighters manning 12 pieces of apparatus had the fire under control by midnight. The cause of the fire was under investigation.